Why China Was Slow to Catch Disney Fever

11/30/2012 3:58AM

Hong Kong Disneyland is making a profit for the first time after seven years of operation. The WSJ's Jeffrey Ng explains why mainland Chinese visitors were slow to warm to North America's favorite childhood characters.

This transcript has been automatically generated and may not be 100% accurate.

I ... the ... after seven long years Disneyland in Hong Kong has finally become profitable ... with me to discuss this is Jeffrey Ng the higher Hong Kong Air Chief with The Wall Street Journal and Dow Jones Newswires ... Geoffrey ... this was the great hope for trying and that ... Oakland is amended open and the Chinese tourists to come ... that didn't happen why ... all ... Jesse was ... very aggressive when it was coming to to to Asia ... and it kind of thought that ... once opens its doors ... millions of Chinese people would just ... come through its turnstiles and come to the park ... that didn't happen ... the quarter that is ... the Chinese ... are familiar with the word family with Disney characters ... the building grow up with Mickey Mouse a Grove that was like here ... and it actually never caught on for some time it took to see several years to really bring up ... the attendance numbers ... that's interesting what did they do to try and educate ... the mainland Chinese about ... to make an awesome in in us work ... harder eventually attract ... the Chinese to come to honk on to this part of a part of what does he have to do was was to resume work with the trial will trade ... in southern China means that the biggest catch an audience for Disney in Hong Kong is the southern Chinese population of ... nearly twenty million people ... didn't come to Hong Kong ... within a couple hours of bus ride that they believe ... that Disney really work closely with the travel trip trying to ... to give them incentive to date UK ... tour guides about this the story so when they're bringing tourists to the border Gold said that you know quick ... snack lesson on what Mickey Mouse is all about ... and Back hats catapult one of the big park that Disney has been ... pushing its brand identity in China with his stoop ... to make a lot of ... TV programs if the programming available in China which now reaches three hundred million viewers ... right that's very interesting ... when the interesting things about Hong Kong is that the thing here is so different industry in the U S or anywhere else for that matter ... describe what if the park like here ... the park and a lot of ... Disney Mickey fence to see friends kind of a ... of the actually ... are ... up late to praise the park for being very nicely designed ... and that that actually very clean and and very intricate and detailed ... the problem is it's extremely small when it first opened ... miss Ashley Walker Rumble Park in ... ten fifteen minutes ... and ... that the problem was exacerbated by the fact that the were very many people to look for small ... um on the other hand a lot of meat in weekly on tell ... we are Chinese tourists and ... amended as he was very different years ago no one to Disney World and is in for the first of appeal coming soups ... come in jackets Diavik ... and the rival coaches in their nice outfit because their on ... field some tough for many people the first time out of China to see ... a whole foreign culture that for many of them is to experience a whole different culture ... was so good to see the Disney character ... and there's also a Disney theme park opening in Shanghai in just a few years ... the only factor that play out Shanghai versus Hong Kong ... eyewitness to customers ... Marcus was going to Shanghai an upcoming Hong Kong with the recently went to the ceiling on how to interview folks you many of them actually were from Shanghai and peace parts of eastern China most ... affluent part ... of the country ... does he argues that European countries that the US ... to tell market that could have been to Disneyland in California and in ... in in in Florida ... due to China's them even much more populous country and they take argue that ... there's enough ... visitor pot of population movement didn't have to come into just went ... from those venture medicine when is going to ... be much bigger when it opens ... on calls very small compound of dependency one from a lesson in not open to the park ... um that that they experienced an impasse ... that took a while to turn around this well so ... that they're traveling and think about ways to expand ... to ... Hong Kong's park before ... it gets to a ... wonderful we all well all that led to say hi to see what happens ... thank so much that they own Hong Kong or tea